Wednesday, 11 February 2009

UMNO Pembela Raja-Raja Melayu ? Poodah !!

"... (On) disagreement with the decision of a Ruler in the belief that the Ruler erred in going beyond what was legally permissible, such action cannot be criminalized for being seditious, as the voicing of opinions aimed at showing that a Ruler had been mistaken is allowed.

To say that such action amounts to treason is wholly incredible. Treason requires an intention to wage war, to cause bodily harm or death or to cause the deposing of a Ruler.

Saying that the Ruler is wrong may be impolite or offensive but it can by no stretch of the imagination amount to treason, nor has it ever been suggested to amount to such.

How what it is Mr Karpal and associates have said and done amounts to treason or sedition eludes understanding, just as how it differs in principle from what was done in Trengganu or Perlis last March.

Their right to do so is a cornerstone of a system founded on the Rule of Law, one that Tun Mahathir relied on to strip away royal immunitywhen he was Prime Minister (and which was fully supported by UMNO and UMNO Youth).

More worryingly, such conduct incites.In all societies there skulk individuals who take it upon themselves to force through a conclusion that they believe their community requires in supreme acts of deliverance.

Though the Barisan Nasional ( read: UMNO) may have won the day in securing the right to govern (in Perak), it must ask at what cost to itself and, more importantly, to the rakyat. In this case, the winner does not take all.